Doug Tallamy, a Professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, has inspired many people across the U.S. to rethink their approach to gardening.  Tallamy’s work on insects and their interactions with plants has increased our understanding of the importance of insects for maintaining biodiversity.

In his book, Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, he encourages his readers to garden with native plants in order to maintain healthy insect populations and thus support many other species, especially birds.

The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, a coffee-table-worthy book with gorgeous pictures, follows Bringing Nature Home by providing strategies for garden design that recreate the layers and biological diversity we find (or, at least, used to find) in the natural world, focusing on the Northeastern United States.

In our talk, we discuss the why and how of this new approach to gardening.

To find the native plants that will have the greatest impact for your region – the 5% of plants that research shows contribute 75% of the food to beneficial insects, go to the Native Plant Finder on the National Wildlife Federation website, click on “Find Native Plants” and enter your zip code.